Field of the Invention
This invention relates a device for utilizing smoke and steam to cook food.
Description of the Related Art
A number of devices have utilized steam, smoke, or both in relation to food.
The Pressure Cooking and Smoking Apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,020 employs smoke but no steam; and the food is heated by a source other than that which produces the smoke. In an alternate embodiment, though, the smoke can be filtered through water which may contain “flavoring elements” to “to impart certain flavors” to the food that is being cooked.
The Mini-kitchen which is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,944, does the reverse, utilizing steam but no intentional smoke. A grill chamber burns charcoal in its bottom and employs reflector plates to direct thermal radiation upwardly against and through the grill. Water flows downward form a plastic water tank having a releasable cap; through a copper tube around the grill chamber; and then, as steam, into the steam compartment, which is separate from the grill chamber. A water-level indicator is associated with the water tank.
Similarly, the Steamer Device for Cooking Food in a Grill of U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,142 generates steam but no intended smoke. A refillable container for water is placed above or proximate to the heating source under the grill. Optionally, flavored liquids can be put in the container to flavor the food.
The Convection Meat Cooker of U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,381 employs convection cooking; has no smoke; and uses moisture only to help cool and clean the Cooker after cooking has been completed.
In the Cocoshell Filtered Cold Smoke Apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,686 material is electrically heated to produce smoke that is cooled and filtered before being stored as carbon oxide gas in a gas bottle ultimately to be used for smoking meat. Liquid is utilized only for cooling.
The Outdoor Multi-method Cooker of U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,087 does not use steam. An effect similar to the draw of a fireplace is used with various passageways to provide selective convection, radian, or conductive cooking or combinations thereof. Such cooking operations can be conducted either with or without smoke.
Within the Outdoor Cooking Machine of U.S. Pat. No. 7,159,509 cold smoking is accomplished by having food on a grill which is to the side of the direct flow of heat; hot smoking is achieved by having the grill directly in the flow of heat with “steaming” produced by an open container of water between the heat source and the grill. Heat and smoke is generated by fire in a firepan.
During the process for using the Steamer and Smoker Accessory for a Barbecue Grill of U.S. Pat. No. 7,469,630 steam is directed upward from exhausts in conduits with no other technique for mixing such steam with smoke generated by burners separate from those which create the steam. The container within which the steam is generated is pressurized so that it cannot be opened while being operated. Such container, can, however, hold a “marinating mixture.” After grilling, steam can be utilized to “ease the task of cleaning the grill grate.”
The Steam-generating Attachment for Barbecue of U.S. patent publication No. 2002/0077449 involves no intended smoke. A bottle with a removable cap supplies water from a location exterior to the barbecue which runs through a pipe that is located above the burner and below the grill on which food is placed of cooking. Steam escapes from perforations in the pipe.
In the Outdoor Cooker Having Improved Heat and Combustion Gas Controls of U.S. patent publication No. 2005/0217659 a grill contains a fire box which is sealed except for its top and which generates heat and smoke. The bottom section of the grill can be filled with water around the lower part of the fire box. Steam is, consequently, created when there is a fire in the fire box. The steam can be used for cooking or cleaning of the Cooker. A convection plate above the fire box uniformly transmits heat from the fire box to the food surface above the convection plate. But no means other means exist for mixing the steam and smoke.
And Chinese patent publication no. CN 101390706 concerns a Domestic Multifunctional High-temperature Electric Steaming Box. No smoke is involved. A steam cooking cabinet has separate compartments to avoid mixing flavors. There seem, from the drawings, to be two places where water is heated electrically to produce steam. The downstream heater appears to have coils for the water path at the same height as the reservoir so that the level of water being heated would be approximately the same as the level of the water in the reservoir.